{"id":38202,"date":"2023-06-01T18:32:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T22:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=38202"},"modified":"2023-07-08T18:58:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-08T22:58:33","slug":"soil-wealth-areas-unlock-investing-in-conservation-and-regenerative-ag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/soil-wealth-areas-unlock-investing-in-conservation-and-regenerative-ag\/","title":{"rendered":"Soil Wealth Areas Unlock Investing in Conservation and Regenerative Ag"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to June 2023 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n

\"SoilThe Croatan Institute recently released a report,\u00a0Soil Wealth Areas: Place-based Financing for Conservation, Rural Communities, and Regenerative Agriculture<\/em><\/a>, summarizing a USDA-funded, feasibility assessment regarding development of place-based financing districts in four regions: North Carolina, Northern California, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The project engaged with numerous place-based partners, 40 farms across 25,000 acres, and diverse groups of investors and stakeholders. The project addressed key issues related to regenerative agricultural investment, conservation finance, and access to capital and land, particularly for small and midscale farmers and farmers of color.<\/p>\n

Soil Wealth Areas build upon the success of other agricultural districts, such as conservation districts and farmland protection districts. They are inherently place-based and locally governed by diverse groups of regional practitioners and stakeholders, including farmers, agricultural cooperatives, conservation and community-led organizations, value-chain businesses, food hubs, food and farming advocacy groups, food policy councils, and researchers. By being based in place, Soil Wealth Areas can better respond to local producers and entrepreneurs and help ensure that capital providers are aligned with the imperatives of ecologically resilient and socially inclusive food and agricultural systems.<\/p>\n

As part of the North Carolina Soil Wealth Areas, for example, the project team facilitated a capital collaboration with Rural Beacon Initiative and Foodshed Capital, a community development financial institution (CDFI), which financed the conservation acquisition of heirs\u2019 property in an historic Free Black community in Martin County. The farm is now implementing a regenerative transition focused on diversified agroforestry and regional food systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we assess the systems-scale change that is needed to begin addressing historic BIPOC land loss across the Southeast, flexible capital and creative technical assistance will be crucial to achieving real results. Our partnership with Soil Wealth Areas allowed the co-creation of a vision and strategic plan to secure appropriate, patient capital to finance the future of Free Union Farms,\u201d <\/em>says William J. Barber, III, Founder and CEO of Rural Beacon Initiative and Free Union Farms. \u201cThis step will allow us to accelerate the regenerative transition of our farm and serve as a case study on how a place-based model of collaborative capital coordination can help to address the on-the-ground realities to make communities more resilient. Self-determination for communities is the goal. Flexible capital is the first step.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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